Thomas Dellert Dellacroix CV And Critics

THOMAS DELLERT-History in the making

“In my art I do not try to explore the spectra of artistic colors, nor the density between different materials or surfaces, and I find no interest in playing with perspective or form. My passion lays in a total different artistic expression -my fascination for the playfulness within trends and “isms”, and the gap between fame and misfortune. I tend to dive deep into the dark side of history and find my inspiration to express my fear of what might happen in the future by digging into the abyss of the past. Although my art often takes a recognizable form, it never strives to copy- to the contrary. After the first impression when coming across any of my works, you will find a playful and intellectual dialogue with different artists and art movements of the past. By using a well-known language of expression I bridge the familiar of the past with the unknown of the present.”

                                   Thomas Dellert 

Already at age 10 he would make his first modern art paintings and collage, depicting war and atrocities . Being born only eight years after the end of WW2 Thomas was living in an after war atmosphere full of stories and war documentaries, he watched on one of the first TV sets in Sweden This would also become a great influence for his art form he today calls “ Documentarism “ Having heard the many stories from his grandmother who had lived through two world wars, and his grandfather who participated in the Berlin Olympics in 1936 he got interested in history and story telling. Thomas was also at an early age exposed to the first documentaries from the liberation of concentration camps and death camps like Dachau and Auschwitz. This would later become one of his main themes in his art and created a need to tell this story to future generations. He has worked on his “Shoah” art trying to tell the story of the holocaust for over 30 years. He was chosen to exhibit at the first Holocaust conference held at the Stockholm Culture house in … and in 2008 he had Auschwitz Birkenau closed down for one day to be able to make his short movie “Silent white hell “ In 2015 he had a large multimedia exhibit titled “ Stunde Null “ to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the and of WW 2 and the battle of Berlin and Hitler’s suicide in his bunker. This resulted in a series of portraits titled “Face of Evil “ using Adolf Hitler as the raw model for all kinds of evil in the world. He also exhibited another new series of works titled “ Deadly Logos “ based on the logos of world corporations that profited on WW2 and the Holocaust and that today are involved in the new evil of world terrorism.
Thomas works are both satirical and informative in structure, and they carry with them both the awareness of the deep darkness in human nature as well as a shining light of hope for man kind.

If there is any “leitmotif” that soaks through Dellert’s works -it is “History”, but not only the presence, but the whole 20th century from the Nazi genocide and the Holocaust, to the slaughter in Vietnam, the fall of Soviet Empire’s, the Berlin Wall, the massacre at the Tiananmen Square, the war against Iraq. Those are not easy topics to portray but art after all shouldn’t be about easy subjects. Many artists in the history like Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Delacroix, Goya, and Picasso that we know so well were all stimulated by the image of war . Dellert manages to form these historical events into a personal reality.
Dellert’s oeuvres are full of outspoken humanistic motives inspired by his international surrounding and events that have formed, and Is ,forming all our lives
Neither literature nor art would have any meaning or reason of existence without a human involvement. For if its the Buddha statues in Afghanistan being destroyed by Talibans, or Babylon’s ancient walls in Iraq ruined by ISIS
, it is “History” - history linked to the private life of every one of us. This relation is something, which is clearly evident in the art of Thomas Dellert.
In Dellert’s vast production, which excels from hand printed silk-screens, photomontage, paintings to short films, and photography.

All the different series of works we look at represent a high level of artistic craftsmanship. But what makes these works so exiting and tantalising is the true energy that they transmit, which we observers immediately feel.

“A Place in History”
Like the spirit of energy intense, strung tight with boundless supply, with focus that burns most deeply into the mind, this nucleus of uncontrived unfitted and most complexed genius came here, delivered his message, and this whom his thoughts could touch are still as smouldering ruins.
This man Thomas Dellert is ten times the power of many of the other artists of his generation. He has the energy of a man half his age and his art is many times the force of a laser beam or an army of artists. He do not tap you gently upon the shoulder and mutter “ remember Auschwitz “ no! he grabs you by the nigra substantia and dangles you before the awful memories of Holocaust and human indecency. And he do it with collage and contents of which are rare and actual memorabilia of the unbelievable creators of that sickening Nazi philosophy. He hunts down labels and posters and documents and ancient photographs ( if not he’s own ) he stamps them with strident orders, using the original rubber stamp of the SS and then more he shouts “ Wake Up ! “ you generation of sloth’s, you computer and TV game addicts , wake up and see, the road you taking now is backwards and will lead to death. Stop now or history will be repeated. Irony, satire and sarcasm and pointed jibes at our human failings are some of the tools of his statements. He takes two portraits of heads ripped apart, and he portrays the repaired picture stitched coarsely back, like the rapid stitches of an overworked surgeon working overtime upon the shredded and bleeding wounded of a nearby battle field, the wrong head to each boy. An ironic statement that points an accusing finger at incompetence and thoughtlessness in our careless times.
This man Dellert is all truth and every fiber a passionate artist. I took him to see the Robert Rauschenberg exhibit at the Helander gallery, for this is one of his mentors. I shall review this exhibition soon, but upon my first glance his pictures and collages seemed to contain a very gentle beauty that made “my rebel Dellert “ appear as a provocative Titan by comparison. Perhaps age is creeping upon me too quickly. And as I drove away I felt spent and weary, incapable and sterile. The little energy that remained within me was drained with humble admiration for an almost unknown artist whose place in history of art is reserved and waiting for him.
John Orr
Art critic at Miami Chronicles.

"The importance of being courageous in your art"

It is difficult to choose a work that has more edge than another in Dellert’s substantial oeuvre- and let me say that he excels at all techniques, whether we refer to his silk screens in the Andy Warhol technique, his photo montages, paintings on canvas, his old school photography, his collages or his video art.
If we take for example the work about the Swedish Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg titled Silent Track 1979.
There Dellert has taken his own photograph from the last meters of railroad tracks leading to Auschwitz Birkenau. The artist has given it a yellowish color that connotes the color of the star of David worn by all Jewish people during the Nazi years of occupation of Europe. Dellert’s silkscreen paper has than been beaten severely to resemble the wounds inflicted from torture by the fanatical and cruel SS. Still this work of art has a serene suggestive beauty. The last meters before death. What its left of this genocide today..a fragment of cloth, a few meters of innocent railroad track. Is that all that remains ? No! The importance of our collective memory, is to never forget what happened, to tell the story over and over again, to try to prevent it from being repeated. That is what Dellert’s. Image is trying to do. Any of the different series of works we look at are on a high level of artistic craftsmanship. And what makes these worlks so exciting and tantalising is the authentic energy that they transmit and as we observe and immediately feel.
To discover an artist like Thomas Dellert is not only exciting, it is surprising. Indeed it is unbelievable that this Swedish artist has not yet been more appreciated in his own homeland.
To pass an artist like Dellert is difficult. It is absolutely clear that he is one of the most interesting and powerful Swedish artist we have today. Probably he will soon become one of the more well known Swedish artist on the international art scene. Not only because his work touch us, or are artistically expressive or because they talk about us in our time, epoch and future. But mostly beacause they shine of that courage that carries art and life forward.

Jonas Stampe Art Critic and Curator

ITALIAN TRANSLATIONS

CRITICA AMERICANA
“Un posto nella storia”

Come lo spirito dell’ energia, intenso, teso, e ricco di un offerta illimitata, con il fuoco che brucia più profondamente nella mente, questo nucleo di genio incontrollato, non dotato e più complesso, è arrivato qui, ha consegnato il suo messaggio, e ciò che i suoi pensieri potrebbero toccare sono ancora fumanti rovine. Quest'uomo, Thomas Dellert, è dieci volte più potente di molti altri artisti della sua generazione. Ha l'energia di un uomo che ha metà della sua età e la sua arte è molte volte la forza di un raggio laser o di un esercito di artisti. È morto, non ti picchia dolcemente sulla spalla e borbotta "ricorda Auschwitz", no, lui ti afferra per la “nigra substantia” e ti fa dondolare davanti ai terribili ricordi dell'Olocausto e dell'umana indecenza. E lo uccide con collage e contenuti dei quali sono rari e veri cimeli degli incredibili creatori di quella disgustosa e peccaminosa filosofia nazista. Dà la caccia a etichette e poster, a certificati di morte e antiche fotografie (se non di sua proprietà) li timbra con ordini stridenti, usando il timbro di gomma originale delle SS, e poi ancora urla "Sveglia! "La tua generazione di indolenti, voi appassionati di giochi per computer e TV, svegliatevi e guardatevi, la strada che state percorrendo ora è all’indietro e vi porterà alla morte. Fermatevi ora o la storia si ripeterà. L'ironia, la satira e il sarcasmo e le battute d'arresto dei nostri fallimenti umani sono alcuni degli strumenti delle sue affermazioni. Prende due ritratti con le teste lacerate, e ritrae l'immagine riparata cucita grossolanamente all'indietro, come i rapidi punti di un chirurgo sovraccarico che fa gli straordinari sui feriti sanguinanti di un vicino campo di battaglia, la testa sbagliata per ogni ragazzo. Un'affermazione ironica che punta un dito accusatorio all’incompetenza e sconsideratezza dei nostri tempi noncuranti. Quest'uomo Dellert è tutta verità e un artista appassionato in ogni sua fibra. L'ho portato a vedere la mostra di Robert Rauschenberg alla galleria Helander, suo mentore. Rivedrò presto questa mostra, ma al mio primo sguardo le sue immagini e collage sembravano contenere al top una bellezza molto delicata che ha fatto apparire "il mio ribelle Dellert" come un Titano al confronto. Forse, troppo in fretta, l’età striscia in me. E mentre andavo via, mi sentivo esausto e stanco, incapace e sterile. La piccola energia che è rimasta dentro di me è stata prosciugata con umile ammirazione per un artista quasi sconosciuto il cui posto nella storia dell'arte è prenotato e in sua attesa.

John Orr Critico d’arte presso Miami Chronicles.

CRITICA EUROPEA
"L'importanza di essere coraggiosi nell’ arte"
È difficile scegliere un'opera che abbia più peso e stupore di un altra nella sostanziale opera di Dellert - e lasciatemi dire che eccelle in tutte le tecniche, sia che ci riferiamo ai suoi schermi serigrafici di seta nella tecnica di Andy Warhol, ai suoi fotomontaggi, a dipinti su tela, la sua vecchia fotografia scolastica, i suoi collage o la sua arte visiva. Prendiamo ad esempio il lavoro sull'eroe svedese sull'olocausto Raoul Wallenberg, intitolato Silent Track 1979, qui Dellert ha scattato la sua fotografia dagli ultimi metri dei binari ferroviari che conducono ad Auschwitz Birkenau. L'artista ha dato un colore giallastro che connota il colore della stella di David indossata da tutti gli ebrei durante gli anni dell'occupazione nazista in Europa. La carta serigrafica di Dellert è stata battuta severamente per assomigliare alle ferite inflitte dalle torture da parte delle SS fanatiche e crudeli. Inoltre quest’ opera d'arte ha una bellezza suggestiva e serena. Gli ultimi metri prima della morte. Cosa è rimasto di questo genocidio oggi ... un frammento di stoffa, alcuni metri di innocenti binari ferroviari. È tutto ciò che rimane? No! L'importanza della nostra memoria collettiva è quella di non dimenticare mai quello che che è accaduto, di raccontare la storia più e più volte, per cercare di evitare che tutto ciò si ripeta. Questo è quello che le immagini di Dellert stanno provando ad esprimere. Tutte le diverse serie di opere che guardiamo si posizionano in un alto livello di artigianato artistico. E quello che rende il suo mondo così eccitante e allettante è l'energia autentica che le sue opere trasmettono, appena osserviamo subito sentiamo. Scoprire un artista come Thomas Dellert non è solo eccitante, è sorprendente. In effetti è incredibile che questo artista svedese, ancora adesso, non sia stato più apprezzato nella sua terra natia. Osservare e capire un artista come Dellert è difficile. È assolutamente chiaro che è uno degli artisti svedesi più interessanti che abbiamo oggi. Probabilmente diventerà presto uno dei più noti artisti svedesi sulla scena artistica internazionale. Non solo perché il suo lavoro ci tocca, o è artisticamente espressivo o perché parla di noi nel nostro tempo, nella nostra epoca e nel futuro. Ma soprattutto perché brillano di quel coraggio che porta avanti arte e vita.

Jonas Stampe Critico d’arte e Curatore